Fig. 6. Dynein heavy chain 9 knockdown morphants show abnormal cilia movements and phenotypic changes similar to the IFT morphants. A morpholino targeting the splice-donor site of the exon coding for the P1-domain of dhc9 causes kidney cysts, hydrocephalus (arrow) and axis curvature (A). Sequencing RT-PCR of aberrant splice products (A, inset) revealed non-splicing of the adjacent intron with a premature stop codon (upper band) and an out-of-frame deletion of the P1-domain coding exon (lower band). The transport of injected fluorescent dye along the central canal of the spinal cord (B,C) is impaired in dhc9SP morphants (C) versus control (B). Histologically, Dhc9P1SP morphant embryos show distension of the tubules near the glomerulus (G) and dilated ducts (H) compared with wild-type control (D,E). The dilatation of the duct can also be seen in frames taken from Movie 7 (see supplementary material) (F, wild type; I, Dhc9P1SP morphant). (J-M) Dye excretion via the urine was not detected in dhc9SP morphants (arrows in L,M) versus control (J,K).